A New Truth
by Mew Khitty
Summary: Summertime at last! The Mew Mews decide to go on vacation. Everyone’s having a great time until the Aliens come along and cause trouble. To Ichigo, matters get worse when someone confesses something more than friendship to her. IxK
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE: Lost in Love

A warm spring day, yet I'm stuck inside Café Mew Mew, working my butt off. I don't really understand why I have to work my time away laboriously, you know what I mean? Cleaning up messes, serving customers, washing dishes. It's all part of my daily work routine as a Café Mew Mew waitress. You see, I'm part of a five member alliance called Tokyo Mew Mew. We work together to rid the earth of all things evil. There's me, Mew Ichigo, and the others, Minto, Retasu, Purin, and Zakuro. Of course, there has to be bad guys in the story, right? A group of aliens who are searching for Mew Aqua are the bad guys. They try to destroy the Mew Mews! How evil can they get? Nobody knows for sure, but we Mew Mews can get rid of them!

"Ichigo!" Zakuro called to me from behind. I turned around to see a huge mess of spilled tea and broken china fragments on the floor. Mew Zakuro was holding a mop, and a bucket of water sat next to her. "Clean up this mess!"

"Why don't you?" I shot back. I was tired of cleaning for the day, and the regular work day was almost over.

"'Cause I don't feel like it," She replied simply and walked away, leaving the mop limply against the nearest table. I sighed deeply and began to clean up the mess, even though I sure didn't want to.

"Oh, finally." Exhausted as I was, I used a rag to finish up polishing the tables. All the other girls were already standing in the doorway, along with Ryou and Keiichiro, ready to go home and rest.

"Ichigo, hurry up! We're already closing up and you're still in your uniform?" That was Ryou, blabbing his head off.

"Easy, Ryou!" Keiichiro scolded him. "Ichigo has been working really hard, and I think that she deserves a raise."

All eyes in the room were on me.

"Wow, thanks Keiichiro!" I danced around happily, expressing my joy. I knew all that hard work would pay off one day!

"Well hurry up and change anyway." Ryou sounded defeated, and I gave him that 'in your face' look before I rushed into the back room to change.

"It's about time you got outta there," Minto said stubbornly as I came out of the back room, carrying my pink work clothes in the crook of my arm.

"I'm so exhausted and hungry!" Pudding exclaimed and everyone agreed. "I feel like I could eat so much and then sleep for years!" I nodded happily and laughed. After enjoying ourselves a little bit, we finally decided to go home and relax. I was the last person to go out, so I shut off the lights and locked the doors. When I got outside, the weather was chilly, and the first stars in the sky were already showing their luminous streaks. I shivered lightly but walked steadily on, knowing that the faster I got home, the more I could relax.

At last I got home and knew that there would be time for me now to watch a movie and drink hot tea with honey. Both of my parents were at work (they work late at night), so I was usually home alone when I came home. I put on my favorite Japanese movie and started watching it.

I was watching the movie for less than an hour when I heard a knock on my door. I paused my movie, got up, and opened the door.

"Aoyama-kun!" I shouted with surprise and led him inside. I embraced him in a big hug, and then motioned for him to sit down next to me on the couch. Shyly, I put my head on his shoulder, but he didn't seem to mind. Quietly, I whispered, "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to be with you," Masaya replied. I felt myself turn red. Thankfully, though, Masaya didn't notice, and we continued watching the movie quietly.

Finally it was over, and I was getting really hungry.

"Ichigo, you must be really hungry," He exclaimed after my stomach released a loud growl. I blushed again and laughed. "Yeah."

"Do you want to go get something to eat?" Masaya inquired. It was as if he was reading my mind about me being hungry.

I grinned and replied, "Sure! Thanks, Masaya."

"Okay, then. Let's go." He opened the door for me and I walked out, blushing and grinning like a complete idiot. I was so happy that Masaya was in my life.

AFTER THE DATE

Masaya and I arrived at the door, tired from the small date that we had together.

"Well, I guess it's time for me to go," I said quietly and turned away. Suddenly, Masaya grabbed my hand and yelled, "Wait, Ichigo." I turned around again.

"Hu-" He interrupted me with a passionate kiss. My eyes closed slowly as I faded into the kiss. I wished that it would never end…

At long last, it did. Everything seemed different then it was before. I stood before Masaya, hypnotized by what just happened, until his voice pierced through my head.

"All right. Bye, Ichigo." Masaya looked deeply into my eyes for what seemed an eternity, then opened the door to his car. I went to my front door and rested my hand gently on the doorknob. I heard the engine of his car buzzing, quieter and quieter as Masaya drove farther away from me.

"This night was perfect…" I told myself quietly and turned the doorknob to open the door. I walked in and closed the door again, but when I turned around, a shadow suddenly grabbed me and whispered in my ear.

"Kitty, you better not go on another date with that foolish bastard. You might get…HURT!" The figure dropped me to the ground with force and disappeared. Tears climbed down my face and I stared at the emptiness of my house in horror, confusion, and pain.

_END OF CHAPTER ONE_


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO: Surprise?**

**----------------------------**

"Ahh," I sighed deeply, stretching my arms miles into the air. The night passed quickly, and I looked outside to see that it was sunny and bright. "Huh?" I exclaimed. "What time is it?" My eyes searched the room for the alarm clock, and when I found it, I gasped in astonishment. "12:14? Already?!"

Using my quick cat reflexes, I brushed my teeth and, with ease, if I may add, threw on my salmon-colored sweater and various other clothing items.  
My feet fumbled as I speeded down the stairs, eager to start yet another day working at Cafe Mew Mew. You may think that I despise that place, but in fact, Café Mew Mew is more of a home to me than my real home is. Pretty shocking, isn't it? To be frank, my fellow Mew Mews plus Ryou and Keiichiro are the closest people in my life. I've spent so much time around them, and we got to know each other so well, we could call each other family. Or, at least I could call _them_ family.

Running to Café Mew Mew made me feel refreshed. I was ready to work after jogging to the café. I gently placed my hand onto the pink door handle and tried to turn it lightly to open the door. To my surprise, the door didn't budge. I tried once more, this time applying more force. Yet again, the door didn't move even an inch.

"Hello?" I shouted, trying to get somebody to open the door for me. I banged my fists on the door, yelling once more. "Hello?!"

After a minute or two, I gave up. Just as I was about to turn around and start walking home, I heard an eerie creaking sound. My eyes focused on the door, which slowly opened up. My heart started pounding, and a million thoughts raced through my mind at the speed of light. Why was Café Mew Mew so ominous-feeling today? What's going on? Are the Mew Mews okay?

I took a few steps forward and placed my hand at the center of the door, pushing it to open it up more. "Hello?" I said a third time. No reply came.

I stepped inside completely and searched for the light switch on my right. My hand slid the light switch upward to turn on the lights, and all of a sudden, I heard a loud, "surprise!"

"Nyaa!" I shouted in utter shock. I closed my eyes and felt my cat ears and tail pop up. Someone came over and tapped me on the back. I was curled up in a ball in the middle of the floor and refused to open my eyes. The voices at the Café were recognizable: Minto, Pudding, Ryou. What was happening?

Slowly I opened my eyes and saw a circle of people gathered around me, staring at the ball of Ichigo on the floor. I jumped up suddenly and glared at them, one by one.

"What in the world is this all about?" I yelled maliciously. Pudding shrank down to the size of a pea from the volume of my yelling.

"Relax, Ichigo," Zakuro said coolly.

"Yes, Ichigo," added Keiichiro with an expression of pure joy. "We were only trying to surprise you."

My eyes, full of fury, met Keichiiro's, dancing and gleaming. "What do you mean 'surprise'?"

"Well, since you received a raise, we decided to go celebrate. Plus, it's almost summer, and we thought it would be nice for all of us to take some time off of the Mew Mew project and have some fun. You know, as friends," Ryou explained.

My ears and tail drooped, and I looked down at the floor, embarrassed.

"Oh…" I mumbled. Minto chuckled.

"It's okay, Ichigo," she said. "Now we know not to surprise you in the future."

"Yeah," Retasu stepped towards me and patted me on the back. "All we can do now is celebrate your achievement."

The crowd of people moved away from my view to reveal a table fully covered with plates of delicious food, mainly sweets. Chocolate cakes, éclairs, everything I'd ever wanted in my life. My mouth emitted drool and I bolted to heaven. I stuffed as much food into my mouth as I could at one time, swallowed, and did the same thing over and over again.

"Hey, save some food for me!" Pudding shouted and ran over to join me in my eating frenzy. Everyone else came, too, except for Minto and Zakuro, who decided to have a nice cup of tea instead.

* * *

After the feast, we sat down around the discussion table and talked about the trip we would take as my present.

"I think we should go to Spain," Minto suggested first. "One of my favorite dancers is touring there, and I've always wanted to see her!" She looked shyly at Zakuro, who she was sitting next to. "You're my favorite star, of course," she exclaimed, blushing. Zakuro, who barely paid attention to her, said, "Or we could go to London. I was invited to be a participant in a major fashion show, and it would only be professional of me to attend. And it's likely that you guys would be granted front row seats for the occasion."

Ryou and Keiichiro stared at her with loathing eyes. "You know, Keiichiro and I aren't really into fashion," Ryou stated. Pudding giggled and contributed her idea. "I think we should go to Hawaii!" She was dancing the hula on the table.

"Or maybe," Retasu added, "we could go to the Bahamas. It's such a peaceful environment there." Pretty soon, everyone was arguing about where to go. I sat blankly and watched as everyone yelled their ideas.

After a few moments of havoc in the Café, Ryou slammed his hands on the table and yelled for silence. Everyone quieted down immediately.

"Thank you," he said. "Now, I believe that since it's Ichigo's present, it should be her honor to chose where we go."

I looked around the table. Everyone avoided my gaze and I smirked.

"We… are going to Russia!"

_END OF CHAPTER TWO_


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